Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Alternate Reality Comics, las vegas

Comic Store In Your Future With Alternate Reality Owner Ralph Mathieu

Comic Store In Your Future talks to Alternate Reality Comics' owner Ralph Mathieu about... everything to do with running a comic book store.

Ralph Mathieu is the owner of the comic book store Alternate Reality Comics in Las Vegas, Nevada. His store has been around for many more years than mine, and he has far more experience than I do. When I visit Las Vegas, I make sure to stop by and visit my friend Ralph at his store; I enjoy talking shop with him. It is rare for me to be able to compare notes with someone else who owns a comic store, and even though I have been around for years, it is always good to check to see if someone else is having the same hits and misses that I am in. I have learned the industry is always changing and that things that might have worked for years. all of a sudden might not.

When in doubt, I ask Ralph if the same things are going on with his store. Alternate Reality sells purely comics and comic-related items. No Magic The Gathering material, no Dungeon & Dragons or other kinds of games, a pure honest-to-goodness comic store with someone who knows comics. New comics, back issues, artwork, trade paperbacks, and more are on hand at Alternate Reality Comics. I have always been impressed by his staff. My history with employees has been far more hit or miss in this economic climate. Low unemployment and so many people not having strong work ethics make hiring tough. Various customers of mine like to bring up my checkered hiring, while Ralph once told me he went on a cruise. I immediately thought… I wish could do that. Ralph has been nice enough to answer a few questions.

Rod: Ralph, how many years have you owned Alternate Reality Comics?
Ralph: 30 years, starting in January of 1995.

Rod: How did you start?
Ralph: Before I renamed my store Alternate Reality Comics in 1996, the store was called Dungeon Comics and had two previous owners, first established in 1987. When I heard that the second owner was looking to sell the store, I jumped at the chance to be the person who would take this store into its next phase; fortunately, the previous owner agreed to a two-year payment plan, and at the end of 1997 I paid off the agreed upon purchase price for the store.

Rod: Most positive memory of the store you have?
Ralph: Really, so many; I'd say one of my very favorite memories was when my wife, Katherine Keller, stopped in the store in May of 1997 to pick up her copy of Preacher #27, in which I proposed to her in the letters page (she had no idea), coming back a half hour or so later and said "Yes!" I've had so many great signings, with one of my very favorite being having Tessa Hulls, the writer, artist, and creator of the graphic novel memoir Feeding Ghosts, at my store in October of 2024. The turnout was everything I hoped it would be and she gave a half-hour talk about her book that was also amazing.

Rod: Least positive memory of the store?
Ralph: I'd say the handful of times that people stole from my store, but I'm fortunate to really have had very few incidents of this over my 30 years, I've designed my store with good sight lines in mind and my employees are very attentive to people who come in.

Rod: Best choice you made with the business?
Ralph: Getting a Point of Sale System, I first used MOBY in 2008 until 2023 when I switched to the superior Comic Shop Assistant POS, this has been a valuable resource for ordering and sales data.

Rod: Worse choice you made?
Ralph: I'd say not moving over my Viz sales sooner to their prefered distributor, Simon & Schuster, for years getting reorders for Viz titles from Diamond has been horrible.

Rod: How many brand new comic readers would you guess that you have brought into comic collecting?
Ralph: I seriously could not even begin to guess; just the sheer amount of people who have been to my store over its 30 years is something I'm always super grateful for, I realize how fortunate I am to have been doing this for so long as so few people get to have as their job something they love.

Rod:  Any pointers for people who are looking to open up a comic store in the future?
Ralph: If possible, see if you can take over an already existing store, but make sure it's in a good location with other good business neighbors, is easy to get to, and wouldn't cost more than just creating a new store from scratch. Make sure you're not too close to other comic stores; really think about what you would be bringing to a new store in your city that isn't already being done by other stores. Create a fun visual environment for your store that will wow people when they first visit your store. I have two mascots for my store, and that's a fun branding thing to do that local artists will have fun with and want to share their versions with you.

Rod: How successful is the yearly Free Comic Book Day for you?
Ralph: It's easily the busiest day at the store every year. The flow of people who come by hardly ever stops all day. Everyone is super excited for the day, and my staff and other helpers have always brought their A-game to Free Comic Book Day.

Rod: What do you hope or see in the future for Alternate Reality Comics?
Ralph: I hope that Alternate Reality Comics continues to be one of the best comic book stores in Las Vegas, where people can discover their new favorite comics and graphic novels for many years. I have seen visitors from all over the world making my store one of their Vegas things to do, and I hope that continues (my artist friend, Ron Horsley, and I are currently working on redesigning my store's website, which has been way overdue for an overhaul).

Rod: Is there a thought process behind when you hire? What do you look for when hiring?
Ralph: I've been very fortunate in my 30 years with my store to have had long-term employees who were previously customers. None of them has ever done anything that made me question my selection of them as employees. My biggest considerations when selecting new employees are whether they are trustworthy and whether they have good customer service skills (including being able to recommend comics and graphic novels).

Rod: Any feelings on the bankruptcy of Diamond Comics that you would like to share?
Ralph: I wish I could say I was completely surprised by this progression, but it was only inevitable that the two main comic publishers would look to do something different than what they were doing with Diamond for over 25 years and that other publishers would also re-evaluate what their next moves would be. Personally, I've never had serious problems with Diamond other than their shipping costs being out of line with other distributors' shipping costs, and I'd have liked them to have gotten our shipments to us more than a day or two before the on-sale date.

Rod: What do you hope or see in the future of the comic industry?
Ralph: Less variant covers, for sure. I'd love to see publishers dial back the cover price of comics to $3.99; I think $4.99 is too much for a regular comic book. I'd like to see publishers not expand their title offerings as much as they often do.

Rod: Biggest change that you have seen in your years in the comic industry?
Ralph: The changes in where we get our comics from and which days they arrive. When I first started Alternate Reality Comics at the beginning of 1995, that was when Marvel tried to self-distribute through Hero's World, with other publishers signing exclusives with Diamond, leaving Capital City Distribution; this was a lot to navigate along with having just taken over the store, but as I wasn't entrenched in the previous ordering scenarios this was just something else I'd have to make happen. With what's been happening with comic book distribution since 2020 and the similarities to what happened to the comic industry in 1995, it's really just a case of adapt or wither.

Rod: What would you like to share that people may not know about you?
Ralph: Besides my love of the sequential art narrative, especially graphic novel memoirs and or really almost any non-fiction graphic novel, I'm a huge techno music enthusiast. I tell people that comics and techno will keep me young (I'm 63)!

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